A quick note: Most of my pictures are now up, save for the drive back from Anchorage and videos. Those are coming, though. In the meantime, go here to see the rest: Alcan photos.
I brought a lot of different things on this trip, and I thought it might be helpful to rate how some of them worked.
First and foremost, my Norrona jackets were fantastic and kept me cozy warm. I was able to wear the lighter one all the way to Dawson, and only broke out the larger one once we were near the Arctic. In the pictures of me at Eagle Plains, the only things I had under that jacket were my Patagonia Cap 4 jersey and R1 fleece. At -30 it was nice to be warm but not bulky. Speaking of the Patagonia layers, those two pieces were amongst my favorites. The Marmot mitts were awesome, and when it was freezing cold, they were the only thing that worked. It didn't take long outside with bare hands for them to start hurting, but slipping my mittens on brought them right back. As silly as it looked, my furry hat was a godsend in the far north. Keeping my ears covered was important, but the fur helped block the wind from my face, adding that extra bit of comfort.
The Jetboil worked so well I'm going to buy my own. Simply put, it was awesome. To have fresh coffee when I wanted was worth it alone, but the speed at which I was able to cook my dehydrated meals was appreciated on those long days when I was tired and hadn't eaten all day. I got pretty good at controlling the flame and maintaining a simmer, and I hear the newer models are easier to control. I will say, it's best for watery foods, as the bottom gets very hot and will cause anything thick to burn to it. Still worth having, and I was amazed at how long the little gas canister lasted.
There wasn't much use for the snowshoes, but I did play with them at Eagle Plains. We took the tails off figuring I wouldn't need them, but I think that was a mistake. While I moved about easier than Bill, who didn't have snowshoes, I still sunk in, just not as deep. If for some reason you needed them, I could definitely see how they would make walking easier.
Another thing that didn't get a lot of use but I was glad to have: the freshette. Bathrooms in the Arctic were hard to find and trees to hide behind even harder. I was beyond thankful to have it with me, especially when it meant not having to expose anything at -40. Worth every penny. But even at home it would be useful for hikes, camping, or avoiding really nasty port-o-potty seats.
My camera impressed me majorly. Lighting conditions were constantly changing with not a lot of daylight to work with, and there was a lot of white to contend with. We were bouncing around on rough roads. The temperatures were extreme. But no matter what, it worked like a champ. I was surprised by how few completely blurry pictures there were out of the thousands taken. The white balance was good, and with a sometimes blank palette to deal with, the autofocus did an excellent job. Most impressive was the complete lack of fogging up despite jumping in and out of cars, from extreme cold to warmth. That saved a lot of time and maybe even allowed me to catch a few pictures I might have missed otherwise.
The compression sacks made a huge difference as far as saving space, but I think I could have brought fewer clothes. Still, it made it easy from an organizational standpoint to know that certain items were in one sack. It was nice at the end of a long day to only have to grab my backpack when I got to the hotel, knowing everything I needed was in there, and that wouldn't have been possible without all my clothes being squished into the sacks.
Overall, I was really pleased with my choices. I could definitely pare things down for any such trips in the future. But the most important thing was that I was comfortable and warm. In those temperatures, warmth is the only thing that matters.
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